The Journey of Donna - My Time to Change

All my life my weight has been an issue for me, but NOW is the time to change! Here you can read about my struggles of binge eating, food addictions, emotional eating and weight gain. I don't have all the answers but I won't stop trying to get healthy and STAY healthy.

My Motto

"When You Take Care of the Inside the Outside Will Follow"

Monday, January 26, 2015

I recently told you about the 10 Day Transformation Cleanse that I went through. It was a game changer for me, it literally saved my life. I have struggled for so long but was always a step behind in everything I did, not any more!

Cleansing & Detoxing my body allowed me actually STOP all the harm I had been doing to my body and give me a chance to catch up and get AT LEAST 1 or more steps ahead.....and what did that mean? Energy, well being, better health, clearer skin and oh yeah, WEIGHT LOSS!!!!

But you may be asking, do I really need to Detox? Is that right for my body? The answer is Yes & No.

YES you need it BUT you need to do it the right way. NO...don't start hitting Google or Pinterest with all the lemon water, cayenne pepper and cucumber waters to flush out the toxins. Trust me, all they will do is help you release some water, make you very weak & tired, loose some healthy muscle tissue and in the end, leave you STARVING then binging THEN gaining back the 3-5 lbs of water + some. Sounds like I have done it before doesn't it? THAT'S BECAUSE I HAVE! Sorry, didn't mean to yell, I just get really upset when I see people hurting themselves like that, especially when I know first-hand just how bad it is. So then what is a person to do? and why?

Detoxification is a natural part of our body's every day functions. We go to the bathroom or sweat when we exert ourselves, that's just 2 of the ways we release toxins. Unfortunately these processes don't always work as efficiently as they should because of our diets, environmental pollution, STRESS and lack of sleep. What is the result? We walk around with a festering toxic waste dump inside our body which can cause so many OTHER symptoms in our life and our health. Symptoms that masquerade as something else.

Here are 5 Signs that your body is SCREAMING for a Detox:

(1) ENERGY DRAIN
One of the main complaints that doctors hear from their clients is that they are exhausted, nave no energy and rely on caffeinated pick-me-ups like coffee and diet soda to get through the day. This begs the question, why are we so crazy tired??? Simply put, we are sleeping less, stressing more and eating far worse than the 20-50 year olds of several decades ago.

(2) EXCESS WEIGHT

A toxic body is typically an overweight one and usually the result of a heavily processed diet, filled with chemicals, pesticides, preservatives and alcohol. Removing toxins, reducing your chemical load and essentially creating a "clean slate" in an overtaxed system can and will create a shift in the body where weight falls off effortlessly. YES It really will.

(3) CRAVINGS

The vast majority of Americans have a sweet tooth, you are not alone. The nature of food addiction, more specifically, sugar addiction has been studied and shown to be extremely common and as intense as an addiction to opiates like cocaine & heroin. Part of the reason it is so hard to kick the sugar habit is that over time our brains actually become addicted to the natural opioids that are triggered by sugar consumption. Just like with drugs, a diet loaded with sugar can generate excessive reward signals in the brain which can override self-control and lead you on the road to addiction. Researches at Princeton University report that sugar-loving mice demonstrate all 3 criteria of addictions: Increased intake, Withdrawal and Cravings that lead to relapse. Kind of scary when you think about it!

(4) BRAIN FOG

We may have other cute names for this 'problem' like mommy brain or "I'm not quite firing on all cylinders" but it's a serious matter. This presents itself when the mind completely drifts off doing even the simplest of tasks like having a conversation with someone or anything that requires you to focus. Hello, anyone at home (as you knock on your head)

(5) TUMMY TROUBLES

What trouble, you know like bloating, constipation or diarrhea, indigestion and re-flux, to name a few. All of these are a direct result of 'garbage in, garbage out". Many of these symptoms result from undiagnosed food allergies or sensitivities (like dairy, gluten or eggs) as well as the good bacteria in your intestines all being off balance. Ewwwww

NOW, there are other symptoms that will present themselves from an overly toxic body:

frequent illness

stress

mood swings

poor sleep

headaches

skin breakouts

body odor

puffy eyes

dark circles

chronic pain

LONG TERM Toxins can lead to: inflammation, autoimmunity, heart disease or cancer

So now you are probably sitting here thinking "Great, you really bummed me out today".........

WAIT, WAIT, WAIT, that was not my intention, I would never tell you all this without giving you an idea of how to fix it.

Periodic cleansing can be just the boost to your health you are looking for and allow you to rid your body of built up toxins, have a stronger & healthier immune system and......wait for it...LOSE WEIGHT!

Just like you clean your house or change the oil in your car, you need to do an internal cleanse on your body to help you feel lighter and have more energy, kick those food cravings, clear away the fog, sleep so much better and have a general, good well-being feeling most of the time. Sound good?

This is what I did. It is the healthiest Cleanse option out there, the only USDA Certified Organic, Non GMO, NO fillers, additives, binders or preservatives whole Superfood program available. AND it not only removes the toxins but REPLACES them with dense superfoods at he same time. When you cells are nourished, your body thrives!

So you know you NEED to cleanse. You know you WANT to cleanse. So why not choose to do it with the support of someone who has been through it all, the good, the bad, the ugly and

NOW the HEALTHY!

Contact me today to learn more and get a FREE one-on-one phone consultation with a Health Coach to make sure you choose the exact cleanse program for YOU!

Thursday, January 8, 2015

So it's been a while since I posted, well a month & a half but has been so much going on, family, friends, work....you know the daily grind turns into the weekly grind, then the next thing you know the month is over. So let me catch you up!I have been doing great with my Clean Eating Lifestyle. I am learning so much each day! I have been able to get creative with the recipes and I have found that Clean Eating is a WHOLE lot easier than I ever thought it would be. Don't get me wrong, I am not completely perfect 100% of the time. There have been some dinners, events, get togethers, moments and such that have led to eating some good 'ol comfort food BUT now, when I do that, I get right back on the horse. That is something I have never been able to do.

So how did 2014 end?

So during the month of December I continued making good choices, I implemented my Purium Master Aminos & Power Shakes into my daily regimen and I am PROUD to say that by the end of December I was down a total of:

With so much going on I forgot to measure myself BUT I know the inches just keep coming off. How do I know? Duh, my clothes keep getting looser and I can shop out of the boxes of smaller clothes in my basement (good thing for those cause this chic does not have wardrobe $$ right now) What is cool though is I have checked my weight records (I have them going back 3-4 yrs) and I am smaller now at this weight than I used to be. Did I say that right? What I mean is I am wearing small clothes now at 246 lbs than I did when I used to weigh this amount. Which means......thanks to Purium I am keeping my muscle mass and it is truly FAT that is going away. That in itself is a BIG deal. I have done SO MANY other programs and NONE of them were able to do that for me, plus none of them were so simple and easy to follow which is what I need right now in my life. I just don't have the knowledge, time or desire to be making fancy or complicated meals NOR do I want to be eating out of some frozen meal box or a package protein bar. I want real food, the kind that was meant for our bodies, the kind that heals them and bring them back to a proper functioning machine. How about you?

So what's going on for 2015?

Well thank you for asking, I am approaching this year with a whole new mindset. It's all about "Eating Clean in 2015", that is my first mantra. It's how I want to approach food. This year is about my health & not about the scale. I have focused on the numbers on the scale my entire life and look where I still am, so CLEARLY that is not working.

Think for a moment: We value our cars do we not? We clean them, get oil changes, put in quality gas, would you say you LOVE your car? Some people do but we certainly do appreciate what they do for us and we take care of them. And if they are not 'working' efficiently then we look under the hood to see what is wrong. Do we put soda in the gas tank for fuel? Do we change the oil with crisco? If the engine is knocking do we just take a part of our a generic box labeled "will fix your engine" and place it under the hood? NO WE WOULD NOT!!!

But yet every day we just put 'junk' into our bodies. Do we LOVE our body? Of course we do, we wake up every day with a desire to live so we do have a level of love for our body....so WHY are we putting CRAP into them??? You may not like this reality but it's true. We want our body to work for us. We want to walk places, run sometimes, get up & down with ease, dance when our favorite song comes on, twirl when the breeze hits us just right, stop and pose when we see a mirror, jump when we see a puddle. All these things may seem small but they are EVERY DAY actions that many of us just can't do because we are not taking care of our 'engines'. This needs to stop people! And I include myself in this. I

want my body to be a Well Oiled Machine in 2015. I want it to perform in the top of it's class. I want the engine to purrrr and not spit & sputter to get going.

So everyone take this VOW with me:

If we go into 2015 with this mindset then we are all set up for success and failure will not be an option for any of us. If you agree and vow to do this, please comment below with your approval and share this post with a friend who you feel could use the same encouragement. This journey DOES NOT have to be a lonely one. Together we can support each other to take back our health and really LIVE in 2015!

Sunday, November 16, 2014

A 2nd cleanse? You heard it right. The 10 Day Transformation Cleanse is so healthy for your body AND safe you can do them back to back if you want. I took a little break between as you know, 2 1/2 weeks to be precise

Friday, November 14, 2014

What is success? When asked what makes a person successful many start to list money, career, family, homes, cars.....blah blah blah! BLAH? So many people strive for those things THEIR ENTIRE LIVES only to fall short, or at least they never get ALL that they want so they feel like a failure. What an awful way to live your life.Now don't get me wrong, sure it's nice to be financially independent, have a beautiful home & family and some nice wheels, but something I have learned over the years is, You can't be happy with a lot until you are happy with a little.

This is not a new comparison, that thought process has proved true for years (and I mean years) even in the bible, "faithful in little....faithful in much". So why do I ask if you are happy with your success? Because TODAY I reached a milestone, a small one in my long journey BUT none the less a milestone and I am HAPPY. I am over the moon with excitement and I want to share it with the world! For so many years I would always look at the big picture, 120+ lbs to loose "ugh". I've only lost 10 lbs "ugh". So my pants zip now "ugh" GET THE IDEA! I didn't appreciate the hard work I had done because I kept looking at all I still had to do and that is the WRONG way to do this. We cannot keep doing this to ourselves. Getting healthy and losing weight will not happen overnight but it WILL happen. Each day has to be a triumph. What did that penguin in Happy Feet say, "give it a Try & follow with a great big UMPH" (or something like that) You have to appreciate your small victories EVERY DAY in order to REACH the big ones. I wish someone had really explained that to me or just took the time to help me celebrate them. And NOT celebrate them with food, just be happy in the moment. Realize that 2 weeks ago you could not zip those pants and today you are wearing them out. That is HUGE, don't you think so?

Now here is the kicker, tell me

Would you be happy for ME if I told you that? Would You?

SO WHY ARE YOU NOT HAPPY FOR YOURSELF???

(think about that for a minute)

We will encourage, rejoice, compliment, congratulate & celebrate our friends smallest accomplishments but then 'poopoo' on our own. How mean are we to ourselves? Getting healthy & loosing weight is a kind & loving thing to do for your body. So why would you not Celebrate & Congratulate yourself for ANY step or accomplishment you have? WHY???

So here is my Compliment to me, "I am so proud of you Donna, today you have lost 20.6 lbs since Oct. 7 and in those 5 1/2 weeks you even went on a week cruise, you stuck to it, made good choices, gave it your all and SUCCEEDED in getting healthier. You are beautiful & loving and I know you will keep it going by taking care of this body you have been given. I AM PROUD OF YOU and you DESERVE every bit of this."

Today is November 14, I want all of you to sit back and think about at least 1 good thing you did since Nov. 1, go back further if you need to, then take out a piece of paper and write down how PROUD you are of yourself, just like I did above. Address it to yourself like I did and put it on your bathroom mirror (I will to) and every day we will look at it and be PROUD of ourselves for the previous day and strive to do something healthy for this new day to come.

Tuesday, November 4, 2014

I was asked this recently about another area of my life and it was an eye opener, but after speaking with a beautiful woman on Sunday who is also in the process of her cleanse we discussed our WHY about this transformation. Why are you trying to loose weight?

If you answer this with 'because I want to be a size 6 or get into my high school jeans' I won't believe you. Oh sure, I personally have said that a MILLION times to myself in the past, I still have my favorite pair of size 10 jeans packed away for 'one day' and some other favorite outfits but that has NEVER been enough.

How do I know it's not enough? Because I am STILL not wearing them and STILL trying to get into them! If a smaller size was enough motivation to loose the weight then NONE of us would be overweight,

so clearly it's NOT our WHY.

So you need to drill down, ask yourself questions and if you can't do that get a good friend or email ME and I will help you. There is a deeper reason you need to find in order to 'flip the switch' and transform your life. You need to find out what it is that is truly bothering you and when you do find your WHY, it will make you CRY. Mine certainly did.

Whether you have 5 lbs, 25 lbs, 50lbs or 100+ like me we all want to be healthier and behind those skinny jeans (or a tailored suit for you guys) there are more substantial & deeper feelings, an intense burning desire for something else and when you figure out what that is the light-bulb will go off and suddenly it will click, and when it does....WATCH OUT!

It's clicking for me now. For over a year now I have learned a lot about the "D" word (diets), clean eating, eating green and a healthier life style and I FINALLY GET IT! I have discovered what it is I want, not on the outside but the INSIDE and guess what.....it's the real motivator. It all started with a wonderful friend introducing me to my cleanse and from there it exploded! It truly was a TRANSFORMATION of more than just the body, but of my mind & heart of how I wanted to feel in so many areas of my life, taking control of it and MAKING IT HAPPEN.

How do you feel right now? I want you to stop and think for a moment, write your answers on a piece of paper to these questions:

How do I feel about my health?

How do I feel about where I am in taking care of myself and my family?

Am I truly happy with where I am?

Your answers to those questions are going to start your journey to taking back control of your health AND your life and when you do, you are going to be AMAZED at how good you feel and what you can accomplish.

I had a small victory this morning which inspired me to share all this with you. I get it now and I don't want it to stop, but MORE than that, I want to help others get HERE. I want to share what it has taken me SO LONG to figure out so you don't have to suffer like I did.

WE CAN DO THIS TOGETHER and I hope you will let me help. Feel free to comment or email me at any time, take the first step to reach out and ask for help. Someone did that for me and it has changed everything.

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

So one of the things I decided to do during my Transformation was to make a small video clip at the end of each day just describing it's events. My feelings, my emotions & my struggles so I could go back and reflect on how it was for me AND in case anyone else was curious about what it was like day to day, they could also see.

After each video I watched it back and a couple of times I found myself getting drawn into what I was saying and tears would form. As I watched each clip I saw a woman that was foreign to me. For a few years now every time I saw a picture of myself, most times I would delete it or just be the photographer cause, well, I hated the way I looked. So seeing myself talk back to me was more than I was ready for. I saw my expressions and gestures (that my husband says I can't speak without) that I use on a daily basis but what was really difficult is I saw a woman who was of NO reflection of how I felt deep down inside. So as I would watch & listen to myself speak it was like listening to someone else whom I could relate to and in the end, when she said "You can do this too" it was ME telling MYSELF that I CAN DO THIS.

I'm so proud of myself for stepping out of the box and recording each day. I am not an elegant speaker and clearly I am not a "movie ready" kind of gal but who cares. It's just me. It's just the most honest way this 41 year old woman could emotionally convey what I experienced each day and if just 1 person is able to benefit and find their inner strength to get healthy, then it was all worth it REGARDLESS of how unflattering the video is. So please be kind, I'm not trying to win any Emmys here, just an honest & raw video of my 10 Day Transformation Cleanse.

Monday, October 20, 2014

So I did it! I completed my 10 Day Cleanse and I feel amazing! I haven't felt this good physically in a long time, all those things I listed at the 5 day mark are still hanging on and even better. (I am actually writing this 4 days post cleanse) I have been eating clean since I finished and still loosing weight.

This transformation was the healthiest thing I have ever done for my body and the benefits are overwhelming. I feel awesome and will continue down this path from now on.

Ok, ok, I know, you are waiting to here the final results right?

Total lbs lost in 10 days: 15.2

Total inches lost in 10 days: 8

Can you believe that? I can't. It took me almost 2 months last year to reach those numbers and I did not feel as healthy & vibrant as I do now. There is really something to this. So now here are some of my before & after pics where you can see the differences:

Look how my face thinned & my cheeks "de-puffed" (is that a word) you can now see my ears, bring on the earrings! Haha

Here is my favorite, I lost a lot in my neck (double chin) and my profile is leaner. Plus look how my skinned cleared up, really happy about that perk. This one made me smile, I though "now there's Donna, where has she been hiding".

Bye, bye tummy, now it doesn't stick out further than my chest and my back smoothed way down too. The majority of my inches lost were from the waist up, and speaking of waist.........

While I'm not thrilled about showing off this shot (sport bra people) it really shows how my waist went down (you can see the wall through my arms) and look at my shoulders to my neck, more definition.

I realize that I am a large woman, so 15 lbs will not be as dramatic on me as someone who is a size 10 or 14 BUT HEY...I think it looks pretty darn good and my clothes fit so much better and also I FEEL better and isn't that what it's really all about??

I will be starting another 10 day cleanse on November 1st......Who's with me? Don't you want to feel better? Don't you want to look better? What have I been saying all along.....

"If you take care of the inside the outside will follow"

and that is what I am doing. 100% Vegan, 100% Organic, No GMOs, nothing but good for you. So please, if you want to feel better on the inside and feel better about what you are doing for your body then comment below, send me a message, email me and tell me you want to join me on Nov. 1 and TOGETHER we can support each other and loose another 5-20 lbs. A dear friend got me started & gave me a $50 gift card off my first purchase and I want to pass that along to you, so join me in November (even if you can make the 1st) cause I will be traveling this path for well.........forever!

About Me

Hi, I'm a mom of two beautiful girls and married to the love of my life since 2000. We mesh great together, our family can hang out and really laugh together. We have had our share of trials and I feel it has made us stronger as a family. I love to smile and being social is just plain fun. I have a passion for creativity and when I see someone else w/ a unique god-given talent, I want to make sure they know how I feel and show my appreciation for their craft. :)